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Julia Child Tops the NY Times bestsellers list


Toliver

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She's actually in the Top 5 in two other categories, as well:

NY Times Best Sellers

Paperback Nonfiction

Top 5 at a Glance

1. GLENN BECK’S ‘COMMON SENSE’, by Glenn Beck

2. JULIE & JULIA, by Julie Powell

3. MY LIFE IN FRANCE, by Julia Child with Alex Prud’homme

4. THREE CUPS OF TEA, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

5. THE FAMILY, by Jeff Sharlet

Hardcover Advice

Top 5 at a Glance

1. MASTERING THE ART OF FRENCH COOKING, VOL. 1, by Julia Child, Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle

2. HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?, by Roger Connors and Tom Smith

3. ACT LIKE A LADY, THINK LIKE A MAN, by Steve Harvey with Denene Millner

4. MASTER YOUR METABOLISM, by Jillian Michaels with Mariska van Aalst

5. THE LAST LECTURE, by Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow

Paperback Advice

Top 5 at a Glance

1. JULIA'S KITCHEN WISDOM, by Julia Child

2. WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU’RE EXPECTING, by Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel

3. THE FIVE LOVE LANGUAGES, by Gary Chapman

4. THE LOVE DARE, by Stephen and Alex Kendrick with Lawrence Kimbrough

5. HUNGRY GIRL 200 UNDER 200, by Lisa Lillien

Does this set kind of record for a cookbook (in hardback, yet) to reach number 1 so many years after originally being published?

I'd like to think she'd be thrilled with the resurgent interest not just in her but in cooking, as well.

A tip of the chef's toque to Saint Julia. :wink:

 

“Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there's a message in my Alphabits. It says, 'Oooooo.'

Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios.”

– From Fox TV’s “Family Guy”

 

Tim Oliver

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I actually just ordered "The Way to Cook" by Julia from Amazon.com. I have a cookbook from her "Baking with Julia" series but have the 1st and 2nd volumes of her "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" on my wish list. Glad to see a renewed interest!!!!

Donna

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  • 2 weeks later...

Slate says that it's not meant for

the frivolous and trendy

and that

...Julia's recipes were written for a rigorous cook with endless patience for serious detail.

And implies that her beouf bourguinon recipe has perhaps more steps than are entirely necessary. Is it worth learning to do things "Julia's Way"?

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I was standing in line at a large 2 story bookstore (Barnes & Noble)in Los Angeles a few days ago. The "hold" books are on a long shelf behind all the check out clerks. I saw hardback volumes 1 & 2 back there. It made me smile to see two old friends up there and I hoped the buyer was actually going to cook out of them. I am firm in my belief that these are classic reference volumes.

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Slate says that it's not meant for

the frivolous and trendy

and that

...Julia's recipes were written for a rigorous cook with endless patience for serious detail.

And implies that her beouf bourguinon recipe has perhaps more steps than are entirely necessary. Is it worth learning to do things "Julia's Way"?

It depends, I think, on your level of commitment to "cooking" and the "culinary arts". If you want to cook well, and to understand and appreciate the history and the development of the craft (art, profession, trade, obsession, whatever you call it) and the relationship of that history to the current state of "cuisine", then yes, it is so very worth it to learn to do things "Julia's Way", or any other "classic" way. Why the heck else is Escoffier still taught in culinary schools? Granted, "Julia's Way" is not going to be your go-to methodology when you roll home from a lousy day at work at 7:30 p.m., and need to feed several cranky kids and a significant other, not to mention yourself, in enough time to allow homework, quality time and soccer practice to happen.

But having and understanding the basics of "Julia's Way" will speed that task along for sure. If you understand the basic techniques and principles, you'll get a decent home-cooked meal on the table that will outstrip any alternatives. Knowing how to handle quick-cooking proteins, how to make a pan sauce, how to balance tastes, all of that is fundamental to being a "good cook" as well as a committed home cook. You save the projects that require "endless patience" for occasion cooking or the weekends when you have the time to accomplish them.

Now.....the Trendoids who are scarfing up "MTAOFC" (v. 1 & 2) and "The Way To Cook" or even "From Julia's Kitchen" because they thought Julie's blog was cool, and they liked the movie are going to be sorely disappointed, not to mention very very surprised. This ain't 30-Minute Meals, baby. And a lot of those volumes purchased because they liked the movie will be ending up in garage sales in about a year.

Their loss. But the Trendoids won't know it, because they'll be on to The Next Bestest Hottest Thing. The rest of us will be lovingly baby-sitting that Bouef Bourginion and the Queen of Sheba cake, and reveling in the experience of it. (sorry Nakji, I can't for the life of me get all of your original post to come along into this one....I'm assuming it's a transition issue with the new software???)

--Roberta--

"Let's slip out of these wet clothes, and into a dry Martini" - Robert Benchley

Pierogi's eG Foodblog

My *outside* blog, "A Pound Of Yeast"

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And implies that her beouf bourguinon recipe has perhaps more steps than are entirely necessary. Is it worth learning to do things "Julia's Way"?

I think the recipe from Mastering does have some extra steps (such as cooking the onions and mushrooms before adding them: I add them to the sauce when I'm finishing it and cook them in it). Someone was telling me how involved her recipe was so I compared it to how I usually make it. Mine's a bit more involved (but only slightly). It's also a composite of many ways of doing it, one of which is Julia's "Zinfandel of Beef" from the Way to Cook. It is useful to learn someone's "way" before you strike out on your own.

I thought that Slate article was off the mark. I'd summarize it like this: "I cook a lot, way more than you, and even I don't have the kind of out of date and insane patience/attention to detail, so don't even bother." Not only is this condescending, it's dead wrong. Good cooking requires real thinking and patience: that never went out of style. I'm willing to bet that at least some people come away from their foray into Mastering with either a newfound respect for what cooking is or maybe even the urge to cook like this every once and a while. Discouraging people is lame.

nunc est bibendum...

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"implies that her beouf bourguinon recipe has perhaps more steps than are entirely necessary. Is it worth learning to do things "Julia's Way"?", said Nakji.

I sure don't know but should you chose not to, how will you ever know. Some of what I have read about her approach says that she puts all the steps into her recipes and assumes you know little or at least need to know all. Given the when and what the was doing, I think maybe she was right.

I don't know how good she really was but she did ferment a revolution. Therefor, I shall try it her way and then find my own way.

I hope you find your own good approach.

Robert

Seattle

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I'm reading MY LIFE IN FRANCE, by Julia Child with Alex Prud’homme right now on my Kindle.

Its very interesting and I cannot wait to get back to Paris in a couple week's time to see as J did.

edited for grammar & spelling. I do it 95% of my posts so I'll state it here. :)

"I have never developed indigestion from eating my words."-- Winston Churchill

Talk doesn't cook rice. ~ Chinese Proverb

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Slate says that it's not meant for

the frivolous and trendy

and that

...Julia's recipes were written for a rigorous cook with endless patience for serious detail.

And implies that her beouf bourguinon recipe has perhaps more steps than are entirely necessary. Is it worth learning to do things "Julia's Way"?

FWIW, the reason Julia Child did not appreciate Julie's blog was because she felt Julia was "not very serious." I guess if you can't/won't be serious about it, then her book is not the right one for you (general "you").

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